“New” vs. “Best of” Albums

Which to listen to? “Be Still My Heart” or “Woman to Woman”?

On the 18th of last month, the three-member band, M.C. the Max, introduced “Be Still My Heart” from their newly released fifth album. Their song has a fierce competitor, titled “Woman to Woman.” And it’s a song from M.C. the Max.

While M.C. the Max was under contract with their previous music agency, they recorded “Woman to Woman,” but had not released it. After the band left to sign with a new recording agency, their former employer decided to release an album of their own. Titled “Curtain Call,” it is a “Best of M.C. the Max” compilation set to go on stands tomorrow, with “Woman to Woman” as the main track.

This strategic move comes at an awkward time for M.C. the Max, as the group is currently working on promoting “Be Still My Heart.” It is also confusing the fans. The music industry will be putting an artist’s “new” album to compete against the artist’s “Best of” compilation.

Ha Ok-seong is a sectional head at Vitamin Entertainment, the new management agency representing M.C. the Max. He states, “Although we are not worried about the ‘best of’ album coming out,” the situation has become malapropos due to the fact that “the [previous] agency did not discuss the album’s release with us.”

The band’s former agency, UNI Entertainment, also released a statement, saying, “We are only organizing their music over the past 6 years.” For musicians, “Best of” albums are an outline of their work thus far, and a simple service for their fans. Usually, singers do not count this album as a part of their repertoire of recorded albums; their agencies choose to release such albums as a marketing strategy.

Agencies and their “Best of” album disputes are nothing new. Last year, the mixed dance group, Turtle, was enjoying the success of their new song, “Aeroplane,” and on the verge of releasing a second title track when their former agency released a “Best of” compilation with two new songs. The director of Turtle’s current agency, Chae Yeong-gon, stated, “[We] were still in the midst of promoting the new songs when the compilation album came out… it incited much confusion.”

Another incident involved singer Lee Soo-young. Lee was ready to release her new seventh album, but her former agency released the “Lee Soo-young Special, 2005.” Consequently, the singer had to delay sales of her own new album by three months.

The standing legal regulations concerning “Best of” albums are obscure. Under the binding contract between individual artists and agencies, the artists’ music is the legal property of the agency. Therefore, the singers cannot prevent agencies, former or otherwise, from producing a “Best of” album.

However, why is it that such controversy only arises after artists switch agencies? One unnamed source revealed, “when a former employer introduces a ‘Best of” album at the same time that a singer is treading in new territory, can it be anything other than ‘ultimate interference’?” Music critic Sung Woo-jin states, “[If] the purpose is no longer the album, but a ‘free ride on the popularity train’ or purely for obstruction, then soon enough, the quality of those albums will come into question.”

bsism@donga.com